Hong Kong government hits out at Cathay Pacific over nearly 800 flight cancellations in 2 months, but carrier vows smooth Easter service

Coordination among departments responsible for service planning and crew availability inadequate, Civil Aviation Department says

In report to department, Cathay says pilot roster planning ‘root cause’ of cancellations

3-MIN READ3-MIN

Passengers check information at Hong Kong International Airport. A Legco panel will further discuss the airline’s spate of flight cancellations on Friday. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Published: 2:26pm, 18 Mar 2024Updated: 9:31pm, 18 Mar 2024

Hong Kong’s aviation authority has criticised Cathay Pacific Airways for poor crew planning after the city’s flag carrier cancelled nearly 800 flights in two months, but the airline has vowed to ensure operations are smooth over the Easter holiday travel rush.

The Civil Aviation Department submitted a paper to the Legislative Council on Monday showing that 786 passenger flights were cancelled between December 28 last year and February 29. About 11 out of 250 flights were scrapped on average each day, or 4 per cent of total operations.

The department said the carrier’s planning team lacked the experience and digital capabilities to sufficiently forecast required crew resources, after scrutinising a report submitted by Cathay over the flight disruptions.

The airline has said the pilot roster planning was the “root cause” of the flight cancellations. Photo: Eugene Lee

“Coordination among departments responsible for service planning and crew availability was also inadequate,” the paper said. “The incident gives rise to concern about the capacity resumption of [Cathay] and, further to that, the recovery of Hong Kong International Airport.”

Cathay CEO Ronald Lam Siu-por said last week the company had pushed back its timeline for restoring passenger flight capacity to pre-pandemic levels from the end of 2024 to the first quarter of next year.

Cancellations over Christmas and Lunar New Year drew the ire of travellers who encountered difficulties in rebooking flights as pilots lamented what they called messy roster arrangements.

In its report to the department, Cathay said the cancellations over the past two months were caused by several factors, including internal planning issues and underestimation of pilot reserve levels. But pilot roster planning was the “root cause”, it said.